Deduplication sounds like the easiest win in data cleanup: find the copies, delete the extras, reclaim storage, reduce risk. In practice, it's one of the most common places firms stumble. The challenge isn't identifying duplicates. That part is straightforward.
The challenge is knowing which copies can be safely removed and which ones can't.
A duplicate copy can exist for multiple reasons:
Work in progress content – especially the case when multiple users are collaborating on content development
Copies made for distribution
Final draft vs published copy
Convenience copies in user spaces
Stale copies that remain when the final copy is stored in the DMS
Without understanding the nature of duplicates in your environment, and having a methodology for identifying them, you end up either deleting too aggressively and losing the authoritative version of a client document, or too conservatively and barely making a dent.
Join Mark Evans, Director of Solutions Engineering, and Chris Dewey, EMEA Consultant at ActiveNav, as they draw on lessons learned from hundreds of deduplication engagements to break down the duplicate types that trip organizations up most and apply those insights to the specific realities of law firm data environments.
The common types of duplicates that exist across large data estates and why each one demands a different approach
Real-world examples of where deduplication has gone wrong (and right), drawn from prior client engagements and what those lessons mean for firms tackling the same problems today
A practical, ROI-driven framework for scaling deduplication across file shares, your DMS, and collaboration platforms